The first hang gliding competition of the Australian calendar, the Canungra Classic is an eight-day, FAI cat. 2 competition. It starts on 5 October 2019.

Organisers say:

“It will be an opportunity for aspiring competition pilots to fly with Australia and New Zealand’s best pilots. Overseas pilots are most welcome and will be rewarded with the opportunity of flying one of Australia’s challenging and premier hang gliding sites“.

Take-off is Mount Tamborine. The entry fee is AUS$300 plus AUS$30 site fee for non-members. Pilots must hold at least temporary membership to the Hang Gliding Federation of Australia.

Australia’s popular paragliding season-opener, the Canungra Cup is back. This year’s dates are 19-26 October.

The Canungra Cup is an eight-day, FAI 2 cat. comp, with scores counting towards pilots’ WPRS scores. Pilots must be IPPI4 rated or equivalent to take part, and need to be members or temporary members of the Hang Gliding Federation of Australia.

The AU$400 (Early Bird) or AU$450 entry fee includes retrieves and airport transfers.

Organisers bill the Iquique Open as “the most extreme and driest competition in Chile”. Pilots launch on a hill facing the breeze from the Pacific Ocean, then have the Atacama desert as a huge playground to the east.

Airspace restrictions to the south will be relaxed during the event, to allow a corridor of flight in what is usually the no-go around Diego Aracena airport.

Organisers claim flying is possible 360 days a year, and for up to 10 hours a day in October and November. Expect 2-6m/s thermals and winds of 8-25km/h.

The competition has been on the calendar for an incredible 24 years. Take-off is a pilot-owned launch site called The Nest, at 165m and pilots reach heights of up to around 600m. It’s all about low-to-the-ground speed flying. There’s no airspace to worry about and you can land on the beach.

BGD’s Weightless is back in January 2020, this time in Roldanillo, Colombia.

The competition scores pilots in weight categories, the thinking being to even things out with a handicap system that favours lighter pilots. Organisers say:

“Being big has less of an advantage, and carrying excessive ballast will not help you so much. We want to have a fun week where everyone feels like they have a chance of scoring well, regardless of what they fly, and how heavy they fly“.

Organisers can’t praise the venue enough, listing off attributes including: “grassy launches, colourful valleys, masses of landing options, some of the friendliest people on the planet, sun, flowers, music, good food and loads and loads of good flatland flying which everyone can enjoy”.

A brand new BGD glider is the most coveted prize in the raffle, but there are lots of other goodies to be won too including Naviter flight instruments.

The competition precedes the British Open and Colombian Nationals to be held at the same venue, so if you have the time and the inclination there’s the possibility to do all three.